


Predictable

by Mandroid



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: F/F, Mark of the Assassin DLC, Past Relationship(s), Sarcastic Hawke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 06:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12882384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mandroid/pseuds/Mandroid
Summary: It's been almost three years since the Qunari conflict in Kirkwall. Isabela left without any warning. Hawke is still recovering from Isabela's disappearance as a mysterious new elf approaches her with a proposition.(An expansion on the events of the Mark of the Assassin DLC.)





	Predictable

**Author's Note:**

> I played through the Mark of the Assassin DLC immediately after Act 2, so the timeline in this fic is that where Isabela still hasn't returned to Kirkwall, and this all happens before Act 3 begins.
> 
> Thanks to my girlfriend, [Recourse](archiveofourown.org/users/Recourse), for reading this and providing feedback!

Varric’s contact led Nevkah Hawke and her companions to Hightown, although Anders protested, warning them that it may be a trap. But traps never caught Hawke off-guard. When the first dagger sailed through the air, Hawke caught sight just in time to dodge it. In another second, people poked their heads over the ledges of the higher ground, drawing their bows, and others spilled out from the shadows between the pillars surrounding them. Hawke and the others drew their weapons, but before they could engage in combat, a dagger shot out of the air, then two, stabbing the necks of their attackers. Hawke traced the source of the daggers and saw _her_ , rolling to the ground, and continuing her assault.

The way she threw her daggers at bare throats with one-hundred percent accuracy, backflipped and weaved throughout the enemies in a deadly dance, all in short, calculated moments -- this elven woman already had a firm fist around Hawke’s heart, as much as she hated recognizing it.

The thought of going to a fortress to attend a wealthy party made Hawke gag, but when Tallis asked her to go, she couldn’t refuse. Especially if they could go under the guise of romantic partners.

Hawke shook her head. She couldn’t let herself think this way. It seemed almost cruel to entertain those thoughts after all of the hardships she had been through with Isabela, after sleeping with her, after trying to help her find the relic, after becoming everything to the pirate, having enough influence over her that Isabela returned with the relic. But Isabela left soon after the Arishok fell, and Hawke hadn’t seen her in nearly three years.

Maybe three years of a silence was enough of a sign that Isabela had severed their relationship, as much as it hurt Hawke.

Although Hawke’s reputation as the Champion of Kirkwall spread rapidly, that title alone didn’t give her many new suitors or interested parties, plus she was picky. Men were out of the question altogether, but no other woman caught her eye. After the hot mess that was Isabela, Hawke cautioned herself to keep a good distance between herself and anyone who wanted to get close enough to destroy her, but _damn_ if Tallis wasn’t already making that difficult.

Whatever, Hawke thought to herself. Just don’t overthink it and everything will be fine. Just attend the party and schmooze it up.

Before they could even go into Chateau Haine’s courtyard, Hawke’s party had to participate in the wyvern hunt. Maybe killing a big creature -- one of her favorite pastimes -- would relieve some of her jitters.

While searching for all possible wyvern baits, low roars washed over Hawke’s party. Everyone stopped, Tallis squinting at the air.

“I think… I think that’s the wyvern mating call.” She turned to Hawke and said, “I think we should mimic that.”

“Mimic them mating?” Hawke teased.

“No!” Tallis exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. Hawke smiled at the heat burning in Tallis' cheeks. “No. I can make that mating call sound with my voice.”

“Ah,” Hawke sighed, smile undefeated. “Carry on, then.”

 

* * *

 

Well, Tallis _did_ say she was going to mimic the wyvern mating call.

“Please look away. I don’t want you to see… this.”

Aveline and Anders turned around as Anders started to whistle. Hawke closed her eyes for only a second before opening them again to watch Tallis, her back to Hawke, leap around with bent knees, arms splayed out on her sides, her voice just barely mimicking the wyvern calls. Her voice goofy, yet endearing. This couldn’t be the first time Tallis had tried producing animal calls.

Hawke covered her mouth with her hands, her shoulders shaking as she tried to contain her laughter. As cute as it might be to embarrass Tallis while she did something outrageous, Hawke almost didn’t want Tallis to stop being so goofy, so light-hearted. She wanted to hold onto this. She didn’t think Isabela would do anything like this.

 

* * *

 

Hawke donned her formal purple tunic (never one to enjoy dressing up too much) as Tallis joined her side in a simple, yet fetching green dress. Tallis linked an arm around Hawke’s and led her around the courtyard, both of them looking for any doorways, strange holes in the walls, or dropped keys on the ground, just in case there was an easy solution that would put a quick end to Tallis' mission.

Come to think of it, this was the first time that Hawke had been so clearly _public_ with a woman in a long time. Isabela never held her hand or linked their arms or wrapped an arm across her waist in public.

Tallis stopped abruptly. Hawke leaned close and whispered, “Why did you stop? Did you see something?”

Tallis gulped, and Hawke traced Tallis' line of sight, where a fairly pretty woman with red hair stood alone, nursing a glass. Her somewhat glazed eyes looked at nothing in particular.

“Is she suspicious? Or do you know her?” Hawke probed again.

“I… I know her. We should just look somewhere else in the--”

Hawke pulled Tallis closer to her and walked toward the other woman, putting on a warm smile. Tallis tried to pull away, but Hawke’s firm grip kept her in place. Hawke knew Tallis was strong, her figure slim, she could have gotten away if she really wanted to.

As they approached the other woman, Hawke cleared her throat and said, “Excuse me, but are you alright?”

The woman jolted back to life. In a thick accent, she said, “Oh, I’m sorry, my mind wandered off…” She glanced over to Tallis and blinked, her eyes widening. “Oh, I didn’t expect to see you here, Tallis.”

“Hello, Leliana,” Tallis responded, trying to smile, but she showed too much teeth for it to be natural.

“Are you here on an assignment?”

“Y-yeah. And you?”

“I’m just a guest here. Sometimes it’s nice to relax once in awhile.” Leliana looked Hawke up and down. Then she offered a small nod of the head. “I’m Leliana. And you are…?”

“Nevkah Hawke. The Champion of Kirkwall. Take your pick.”

“Oh, you’re _the_ Champion of Kirkwall!” Leliana gasped. She smiled, and Hawke couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. This woman was both pretty and had a strong, pleasant accent. Not too surprising that Tallis would want to be with her. “Amazing. I’m grateful to have met you.”

“It’s nice to meet a friend of Tallis,” Hawke said, nodding back to her.

Leliana let out a small sigh and looked at Tallis again. “I bet you two have business to attend to. But seeing you again has been nice. It reminds me of that time, years ago.”

Hawke glanced at Tallis and rose her eyebrows, waggled them, the _I know what this means_ waggle. Tallis pouted at Hawke and turned back to Leliana. “Yeah, that was indeed a… fun assignment. But you’re right, Hawke and I need to go. Maybe we’ll run into each other at another party sometime.”

They parted ways, and as soon as they were out of Leliana’s earshot, Hawke drew close to Tallis' ear and said, “You guys fucked, didn’t you?”

“Hawke!” Tallis said, shrill enough for two other guests to look their way. Tallis covered her mouth for a second, her face burning, then lowered her voice. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Hawke thrilled herself with Tallis' embarrassment, but even Tallis making a fool of herself (again) wasn’t quite enough to soothe Hawke’s bitter jealousy. Deep down, she hoped she and Leliana were never intimate. Maybe she was better with that accent and kindness.

And maybe it reminded her of Isabela.

 

* * *

 

This is just what those rogue types do.

“Don’t touch the punch, it’s a bit strong,” Hawke said to a random partygoer as he passed. She stood guard outside of a door, behind which Tallis’ sweet voice whispered ridiculous sword euphemisms, so silly that it shocked Hawke that anyone could feel aroused by them, despite being surrounded by idiots herself. But men were like that; they took Hawke’s antagonistic words as compliments, something to try getting off on.

Still, the fact that Tallis spoke in such a seductive voice, even if it was trying a bit too hard, bothered Hawke. What was it with Hawke and women like her? What attracted her to women who could do much (and many) better than her? Isabela was also very liberal with her romantic interests, although she had become particularly possessive over Hawke after some time, which in retrospect didn’t seem to fit. Somehow she had become Isabela’s only interest. Hawke had become important to her.

Hawke told herself Tallis was different than Isabela. Stop thinking about Isabela.

The door opened behind Hawke. Tallis wore a dejected frown on her face. “He doesn’t have the key,” she sighed, squeezing her eyes shut and pinching the bridge of her nose. “I can’t believe how wrong my plan is going. There must be another way in…”

Time to find Tallis' next victim.

 

* * *

 

So Tallis was a Qunari agent.

All Tallis had to say after they were tossed in a jail cell was, “At least the Duke didn’t have us killed. That has to be worth something, right?”

How did Hawke keep falling for liars? She couldn’t help but scoff at Tallis’ apology. She couldn’t decide if she was livid with Tallis, because part of her commended Tallis’ betrayal. She always wished she had the cold heart to hurt other people in this way. Her experience and reputation as Champion of Kirkwall proved she was fantastic at killing, but she lacked the skill to turn people’s insides outward, fuck up their emotions on the inside. She always tried in her small, sarcastic ways, to hurt people, make them almost hate her. She almost succeeded with Isabela.

Mostly, Hawke hated how she didn’t immediately despise Tallis for this. She strived to lie and joke and hide herself from others, so she deserved this. She deserved Isabela leaving her without a word, without any closure, and now she deserved Tallis stabbing her in the back, all the while her pretty face successfully put on the facade of someone who cared about her, someone who felt genuine regret.

“I’m just trying to look on the bright side?” Tallis said after a moment of silence. “I’m really sorry I lied to you.”

“Well,” Hawke said through her teeth, “it’s not the first time this has happened to me.”

Tallis turned away and didn’t saying anything for a few moments. Despite everything, Tallis’ lips were inviting. Hawke wanted to hold them in her teeth, to let Tallis know what she did was shitty, that Hawke kind of hated her a little bit, but maybe she could put those emotions aside. It would be so easy to just kiss her and touch her and hold her until the pain temporarily went away. Hawke felt her pent up, submerged desires breaking free as her resolve lowered.

Push it deeper down. At least _try_ to.

“The Duke will be distracted with his meeting,” Tallis said. “He won’t be down here for a while.”

Hawke tested the waters with, “Then we’d better make good use of our time.” It didn’t come out as sultry as she wanted.

“We could start tunneling our way out,” Tallis suggested. Hawke gritted her teeth. She couldn’t tell if Tallis was really so oblivious of her flirtation or if she was purposefully trying to fuck with her emotions and anger her even more.

“Tunneling’s for chumps.”  
  
“I see you’re not a fan of tunneling, then. A shame.”

“Would you rather me be mad at you?” Hawke asked icily.

Tallis’ face fell, and she shook her head before putting it in her hands. “No. I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t intend on you finding out any of this, but as you can tell, all have my plans have been failing all day. No surprise that one failed too.”

Hawke sighed and leaned forward, bracing her arms against her knees. “I’m sure the others will come to rescue us. But as for things to do in the meantime…” She looked again at Tallis. She should hate her. She should turn her back to Tallis and trap them both in an awkward silence for all that Tallis had put her through. The loneliness, the attraction, the way Hawke’s heart beat in a flurry and the tingling sensation in her lower body, they all made it difficult to really be mad. So she offered a half-cocked eyebrow wiggle.

Flirting was never Hawke’s strong suit.

Tallis lifted her head and just stared at Hawke. “Are you suggesting something?” She asked, a bit withdrawn.

“Yeah. We could say ‘fuck it’ and mess around until people come and rescue us.”

Tallis dropped her gaze for a second before pulling herself together. “Why would you even want to touch me right now after what I did to you?”

Hawke didn’t even know why. She wished she could act rationally, but apparently this was just the type of women she liked the most. Smooth rogues who just happened to be good at seducing targets, keeping people on their toes, lying and back-stabbing because no one but themselves mattered, self-preservation at its finest. Hawke didn’t think she had shred of self-preservation at all. But she really _wanted_ to do this stupid thing. She didn’t know how to say it. No sarcastic quips came to mind. Her actions would have to do.

She stood up and towered over Tallis, their eyes meeting. After a moment, Tallis slowly rose, only an inch or two taller than Hawke. Hawke opened her mouth the moment a voice behind her said, “There you two are!”

Hawke whipped around and saw Anders and Aveline jogging up to the cell. “Sorry it took us so long. This place is a labyrinth,” Aveline said.

Hawke gritted her teeth and exhaled, the tension still tightly coiled in her chest. “It’s fine,” Hawke said. She glanced back at Tallis for a second. “It’s not like this cell’s comfortable. It’d be nice to get some fresh air.”

“Now we just have to find a key for this stupid door,” Anders sighed, running his hand over one of the cell bars.

“That’s where I come in,” Tallis chirped. She swerved past Hawke, a pick in her hand, and in just a second, the door opened with a metallic creak. The elf rose her chin and looked at Hawke, grinning.

“If you could do that the entire time…” Hawke started, narrowing her eyes.

“Well, you said we had people coming for us,” Tallis shrugged.

Another deep exhale.

_Damn_ it, Hawke.

 

* * *

 

“You could take me,” Tallis said.

If only she meant that in the way Hawke wanted her.

“Oh, are you sure that’s not too much?” Hawke retorted, a sly grin on her face, but her will to appear as sarcastic and nonchalant as possible couldn’t stop her from somewhat glaring at the elf. “I didn’t think we were anything more than friends. Or are you just setting me up for another backstabbing?”

“Please? It’s your decision, but I won’t betray you this time. I promise.”

Promises didn’t mean shit to Hawke anymore. But Hawke would miss that extra feminine presence around her, a presence that reminded her so much of the one who left her behind. This really wasn’t fair to Tallis, but Tallis wasn’t being fair to Hawke either. They could push through this conflict with their mutual unfair intentions together.

Hawke walked to the opening of the cave where Tallis stood, grabbed her hand, and pulled her behind as she said, “Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

Yet another victory under Hawke’s belt, another victory to give her title of Champion even more weight, another victory that should keep her smug for months. But as Anders and Aveline wiped the sweat from their brows and offered each other congratulations, Hawke noticed Tallis’ figure move out of the corner of her eye. She turned to the elf and said, “Where are you going?”

Tallis froze for a second before swiveling around on her heel to face Hawke. She crossed her arms casually, saying, “Oh, well… Things have been taken care of here, I guess.” Hawke kept her gaze steady. Tallis bit her lip. After a few more seconds, Tallis added, “Thank you, Hawke. For everything. For finishing this with me. I definitely don’t really deserve it after doing what I did to you.”

“Lying to me, betraying me…” Hawke said.

“Yeah. And you still stuck with me.”

_Because apparently I’m a sucker for pain,_ Hawke thought bitterly. What she said was, “I wanted to see it to the end. And now that we’re done, I should ask: what made you pick me for this mission? You couldn’t have possibly picked me because you wanted me to attend a party with you?”

Tallis giggled at that. “Well, that was part of it. I mean, taking the Champion of Kirkwall as my plus one to a party? Not everyone can say they’ve done that.”

Hawke swallowed, her lips twitching into a smile. She couldn’t get her hopes up. She couldn’t tell if Tallis’ change in attitude was from the relief of finishing off a target or from feeling comfortable around Hawke after all of her deception, but she loved it. The person she pegged Tallis as from the start. Someone similar to Isabela. A completely different face and body, a different set of ideals, but so many similarities.

It’s easy to fall for someone you’ve fallen for before. And it’s easy to hate them for what they are about to do.

Tallis stepped forward and took Hawke’s hands in her own. Their eyes met. Hawke stared at Tallis' lips. Those lips parted and spoke, “I need to go. But I really, really enjoyed the time we spent together.”

Tallis reached up, their lips meeting in a long, chaste kiss. From behind them, Aveline muttered a “get a room.”

Tallis slowly stepped backwards, her fingertips gliding along Hawke’s palms, her fingertips, then the air. The elf turned back and toward the greenery.

Hawke felt a weight in her hand. She glanced down to see the Heart of the Many. A small amulet. All of this trouble for a stupid trinket. She lifted her head to tell Tallis to take it back. But Tallis was completely gone.

And Hawke knew she would never see her again. She never learns.


End file.
